9 Stats that Reveal the Future of the Workplace

Technology has always driven, and will always drive, the future of work: just consider how the history of farming changed with the advent of the horse-drawn plow! Similarly, Deloitte’s Human Capital Trends for 2017 contends that the modern workplace is changing rapidly and companies across all industries are having to adapt to the speed and connectivity of today’s world. These are the top 9 statistics that highlight the state of the workplace in 2017—and beyond.

1. Only 9% of companies believe they have a good understanding of which talent dimensions drive performance in their organizations.

9% is a shockingly low number for a metric that tells companies how to glean more productivity and efficiency from their employees. Deloitte reports that the new field of “people analytics” hasn’t been mainstream long enough for companies to act on such information. Going forward, businesses will need to find a way to connect HR and employee data to business processes.

2. Nearly 80% of executives rated employee experience as very important, but only 22% reported that their companies were excellent at building a differentiated employee experience.

The large percentage of executives in this statistic reveals that today’s connected world makes it easier than ever for employees to switch jobs. This, in turn places pressure on employers to build good company cultures. However, it’s also worth noting that less than 1 in 4 say they’re doing it well.. In the war for talent, more companies will need to tackle this issue going forward.

3. 79% of companies survey their employees only once (or less) annually, and 14% never survey their employees at all.

Feedback and communication are huge factors in creating a positive employee experience, but many companies still need to improve in these areas. Deloitte notes that “creating a holistic approach to the employee experience demands better tools and programs to capture employee feedback continuously.” The companies that are collecting feedback early and often, using programs and software like Lessonly, allow employees to help shape company culture and benefit the most.

4. 91% of companies that have adopted continuous performance management say they now have better data for people decisions.

Making performance management a continuous process benefits both the organization and its employees. When employees receive feedback on strengths and weaknesses in real-time—instead of waiting for quarterly or annual performance reviews—they can make changes sooner. And with frequent check-ins, management reported to Deloitte that they can “make major progress in removing bias and discretion in promotion and advancement.”

5. 79% of executives rate redesigning performance management as a high priority.

The biggest challenge of redesigning performance management is implementing these new methods in a way that benefits both the business and its employees at the same time. Given the earlier statistic showing how often teams are surveyed by their leaders, there is a lot of room for improvement. An easy win for organizations is simply asking for feedback from the team on existing processes and identify opportunities.

6. 90% of companies are redesigning their organizations to be more dynamic, team-centric, and connected.

Companies are very focused on building the “workplace of the future” and are doing so by investing in agile, adaptive workplaces. In practice, this means new software centered around communication, departments focused on innovation, and leadership that encourages continuous learning and improvement. As companies come to embrace the reality of continuous change, expect to see more investments into software that can best support it.

7. 59% of survey respondents reported they were not ready or only somewhat ready to address the employee experience challenge.

As noted earlier, executives understand the importance of the employee experience, but that doesn’t mean every organization is ready to address it. In the growing war for talent, companies need to understand and adapt to the ways that employees view and interact with organizations. This means everything from better employee learning and development to more leadership transparency.

8. Only 14% of companies believe their internal processes for collaboration and decision-making are working well.

Collaboration is another focus area seeing a major push from businesses and employees alike. The rise of communication tools like Slack coincides with the fact that 77% of companies believe email is no longer a viable tool for effective communication. Workplaces are increasingly aware of the changing nature of employees’ communication styles and preferences, but many are slow to react.

The negative effects of this reluctance are compounded by the next statistic…

9. 94% of surveyed companies report that agility and collaboration are critical to their organization’s success.

An overwhelming majority of companies are placing a premium on collaboration. And while almost everyone surveyed for this year’s report believes that agility is important, nearly one-fifth of companies described themselves as “not agile” at all. The gap between the recognized need for agility and actual performance is telling. Businesses are behind the latest wave of digital transformation, but won’t stay that way for long.

If one were to sum up this year’s Human Capital Trends in a single word, it would likely be “change.” Of all the businesses surveyed for this report, very few statistics that land in the middle. Large percentages of executives understand that things are changing, but relatively few report actual performance on those changes. As these workplaces trend more toward the future, modern tools and software are critical to company success.

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